What is RMS Size in a Compressor?
- Thread starter 357mag
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pipelineaudio
Well-known member
Have you seen these ReaComp Videos yet?
http://www.cockos.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorial_7_-_ReaComp_Basics
http://www.cockos.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorial_8_-_Using_ReaComp
RMS can sometimes be more like the way your ear responds to level changes. Using the PSP vintage meter will give you a pretty good idea of what different rms sizes do.
Here is a geekier page http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html
(I know you said no, but later itll be handy)
http://www.cockos.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorial_7_-_ReaComp_Basics
http://www.cockos.com/wiki/index.php/Tutorial_8_-_Using_ReaComp
RMS can sometimes be more like the way your ear responds to level changes. Using the PSP vintage meter will give you a pretty good idea of what different rms sizes do.
Here is a geekier page http://www.digido.com/bob-katz/level-practices-part-2-includes-the-k-system.html
(I know you said no, but later itll be handy)
The videos don't help much. The sound keeps cutting out. Don't know why. Very annoying to sit there and wait all the time for the sound to come back.
I tried running the videos again and this time it was smoother. But the guy didn't really explain what RMS and RMS Size is. He mentioned some settings you can try, but I'd like to know what the hell is meant by RMS Size.
Would also be nice to find a button that I could pause or rewind the video to a certain part.
I tried running the videos again and this time it was smoother. But the guy didn't really explain what RMS and RMS Size is. He mentioned some settings you can try, but I'd like to know what the hell is meant by RMS Size.
Would also be nice to find a button that I could pause or rewind the video to a certain part.
Last edited:
pipelineaudio
Well-known member
I'll see if I can get a better link to those videos. Using the RMS function is pretty clearly explained on them, not just with textbook stuff but with a real world way to determine them.
Basically, you have two ways to determine what input level the compressor threshold is looking at: peak and RMS
the peak level is the maximum instantaneous value of the waveform. In digital audio, you never want to exceed it. Peak detection is the forte of limiters (or ReaComp when you set the RMS value to 0)
The trouble is, we dont really hear peaks, our ears just dont care about microsecond level excursions, we care about the sustained level value of a sound. You will see all sorts of arguments over which window size is the most accurate to the human ear, with speech needing WAY different requirements than snare drums for example.
I suggest using the free PSP vintage meter http://www.pspaudioware.com/indexen.html?url=http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/vmeter.html;
Set different RMS times on the meter until you see it most relavently describing the sound you are working on then set the ReaComp rms window to that. This will become second nature to you after a while and youll be using the Vintage Meter trick less and less as time goes on
Basically, you have two ways to determine what input level the compressor threshold is looking at: peak and RMS
the peak level is the maximum instantaneous value of the waveform. In digital audio, you never want to exceed it. Peak detection is the forte of limiters (or ReaComp when you set the RMS value to 0)
The trouble is, we dont really hear peaks, our ears just dont care about microsecond level excursions, we care about the sustained level value of a sound. You will see all sorts of arguments over which window size is the most accurate to the human ear, with speech needing WAY different requirements than snare drums for example.
I suggest using the free PSP vintage meter http://www.pspaudioware.com/indexen.html?url=http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/vmeter.html;
Set different RMS times on the meter until you see it most relavently describing the sound you are working on then set the ReaComp rms window to that. This will become second nature to you after a while and youll be using the Vintage Meter trick less and less as time goes on